


Dredging up Reasoning

by atomiccourier



Series: Atom I.C. Courier [4]
Category: Fallout 4, Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-19
Updated: 2016-04-19
Packaged: 2018-06-03 07:08:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6601546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atomiccourier/pseuds/atomiccourier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Commonwealth and Courier shouldn't mix, but they do, and it's not always enjoyable.</p>
<p>Also known as Atom gets left in the rain and asks himself what the fuck he's doing out here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dredging up Reasoning

You feel like a cat out in the rain. Except instead of a cat, you’re a courier out in the rain. But you feel like a cat, because you’re adverse to water in much the same way. You’re also pretty much extinct. A bead of water drips down the back of your neck as if laughing at your train of thought, and you shudder.

Let’s look at it this way. You’re a tan patch on a blue quilt that didn’t even need a patch there, so you’re out of place in two ways. Yes. That’s how out of place you are in the Commonwealth. A Nevada desert mite in Massachusetts. Fun.

Back to the present. Here you are, crouched against a damp wall of some abandoned shack in a miserable attempt to hide from the downpour beneath the roof’s 6-inch outcropping. You would potentially be less wet if you stepped out into the storm proper, but you’re too stubborn in your stubbornness to attempt this. You can practically hear your favorite Follower of the Apocalypse sarcastically remarking about the cold you’re going to get. Except colds are common during harsh weather because of people staying inside more often, not going out, so fuck you Arcade.

What the hell are you doing out here anyway? Ah yes, you’d just finished clearing out this dirty shameful old wood scrap cube-ish “building” of the raider scum that had been inhabiting it when a grenade went off and blew up everything but the wall you were currently crouched pitifully under. Even the pitiful, deflated mattress had caught fire. You’re 100% convinced that the General sent you out on this mission just because you were being annoying and deserved it.

But to what extent did the General really have authority over you? You ruled New Vegas. You ran an entire robot army. The only thing you’re short of is being the inheritor to a previously-assumed-to-be-eradicated-group-of-underground-scientists’-legacy. You’re entirely certain you’re not that. You’d remember that.

Anyway, you’re only really letting yourself be ordered around to get on the Minutemen’s good side. You’re practically defenseless without your aforementioned robot army, multiple loyal factions wielding deadly weapons, and anti-nuke-weapon that Mr. House has stored away somewhere. Just some egotistical dude with a fancy looking gun and fancier words. Those tools could only keep you alive if you used them properly. This is where you loop back to your befriending the Minutemen.

Thinking back further, that’s not even why you’re in the Commonwealth in the first place, just another large sidetrack. You were supposed to be befriending the Institute and offering them multitudes of protection against the coming war with the factions in exchange for science stuff that you could give to Big Empty and the Followers. Only then you’d infiltrate them further and destroy them from the inside out before your robots even made an appearance beyond a few simple displays of power. You’d make this point to the factions, be on their nice lists instantly, and infiltrate them all to gain access to their various and valuable effects.

But even before all that, before the Institute and it's adversaries, you left because the Mojave is in your blood, and you’re not sure you like that. You’re an adult, but it’s only been six years since you started existing. You’re already feeling trapped into a set identity that you’ve had to build for yourself out of bullets holes and a few choice words. The Mojave is your parent. The Commonwealth is the opportunity to make you something more than Courier Six.

The opportunity to be more drenched than you’ve ever been is certainly included in that.

But you’re not sure you like that, so your push yourself up from the wall and begin the slow trudge back to Sanctuary.

**Author's Note:**

> God, fuck I have so much homework to do.
> 
> I'll probably get more stories up in the coming long weekend. Hopefully longer ones. I'm working on my companion characterization.


End file.
